Reviews & features: Kids

Life in Bikini Bottom is chugging along as usual for our animated hero SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny). Plankton (Mr Lawrence) is still determined to steal the secret recipe for the delicious Krabby Patties, launching a major attack on the Krusty Krab.

Looking for child-friendly entertainment to stream? We've picked out the best Netflix has to offer

Navigating Netflix to find something to watch can be a time-consuming process at the best of times, but with an attention-seeking tweenie or a squabbling brood at your feet it can be near impossible. So we've picked out eight of the best kids films to…

The animated kids' favourite hits the big screen in a cobbled-together collection

With over ten years as a beloved children’s entertainer, Peppa Pig makes the jump from television to cinema screens with a disappointingly small splash in this animated adventure for tots. A brand new 15-minute Peppa Pig adventure, The Golden Boots, is…

Christopher Smith's festive film shows both a dark side and refreshing compassion

From the director of Severance and Triangle comes a heartwarming and very funny Christmas tale about a father who, after his release from a two-year prison sentence, has to learn the virtue of reliability...

Knockabout spin-off featuring the voices of John Malkovich and Benedict Cumberbatch

Over their three Madagascar features to date, DreamWorks Animation have successfully established a menagerie of comic characters. The franchise's penguins have already struck out with their own short film and TV show, and they now get their own movie...

The beloved bear is brought to the big screen by Paul King's charming adaptation

Ever since his creation in 1958 by author Michael Bond generations of children have grown up with Paddington Bear, so writer-director Paul King (The Mighty Boosh, Bunny and the Bull) faced no small task in bringing the hirsute hero to the big screen. By…

Series of film screenings, talks, Q&A sessions and workshops to take place from 8–12 Oct

‘With 20,000 Hispanic speakers craving for Hispanic culture, the launch of the first Edinburgh Spanish Film Festival was a no-brainer,’ says festival director Marian A. Aréchaga, ahead of its launch at the Filmhouse next week. In collaboration with the…

The pile of unwanted, underwhelming young-adult adaptations is rising. From The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones to The Host via Ender’s Game, the search for another Twilight or The Hunger Games has ransacked the bookshelves of many literate teens.

At 40 minutes, David Douglas’ slender, family-friendly IMAX lemur doc is a hark back to the format’s days as a short-form edutainment outlet. Friendly, photogentic primates leap across the massive screen while Morgan Freeman’s subterranean tones…

Writer-producer Drew Fellman discusses the IMAX doc, which is narrated by Morgan Freeman

It’s a cute, furry, animals-acting-like-humans narrative that could have been lifted straight from a Disney storyboard: a group of primates, fearing extinction on the mainland, board a naturally made raft and set sail for distant shores. ‘It’s the sort…

The scene-stealing sheep from Wallace and Gromit is set for his own big-screen adventure

A teaser trailer for Aardman Animation's Shaun the Sheep movie has landed, and it's reassuringly hilarious. While the new footage doesn't offer any plot details – the movie itself won't be released until 2015 – Aardman's signature talent for humanising…

The artistic director of the kids' theatre urges you to see the Jim Broadbent-starring romcom

I create a lot of work for younger audiences – maybe this is the reason I’m so excited to see Hanif Kureshi and Roger Michell’s latest cinematic collaboration, Le Week-End. Starring the brilliant Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan, this tale of a…

A celebrity cast including Beyonce Knowles and Colin Farrell can't save this rather wet adventure

The title of the latest animated film from Ice Age and Rio creators Blue Sky Studios refers to the scale; although offering a sweeping story of huge armies, arduous journeys, lost princesses and aerial assaults, the action never travels beyond the…

Limp animation sequel to 2010's A Turtle's Tale

Sammy’s Painfully Long Incarceration would be a better title for this sequel to 2010’s A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures. With a sequel to Pixar’s Finding Nemo still several years away, there’s presumably a wide-open market for aquatic animations, but…

The third in the animation trilogy offers superb entertainment

The naughty animals from Central Park Zoo return in this new animation from Dreamworks, and the third time proves lucky for Alex the lion and his chums, with Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted offering superb entertainment.
After the lacklustre…

Tim Burton’s latest is a triumphant black and white animation

The commodified pseudo-weirdness of Tim Burton has become a bit of a bugbear, even for those who once fell hard for his particular brand of whimsy. Wearying in its repetition of the same Goth-lite tropes, over-reliant on Johnny Depp’s cutesy bug-eyed…

Unfaithful to the original cartoon but this adaptation still retains a cheeky charm

Also known as Boss Cat during his regular BBC television outings, to avoid giving advertising to a popular brand of cat food, Top Cat remains one of the most fondly remembered characters in cartoon history. Despite living in a dustbin in an alleyway…

A new trailer for Disney-Pixar's Brave is available, revealing a little more of the Highland-set story line. In it, we see a lot more of the dynamic between impetuous heroine Merida (Kelly Macdonald), her indulgent father King Fergus (Billy Connolly…

An enjoyable, if occassionally laboured, family animation from Aardman

(U) 88min
Aardman's Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists is the most ambitious undertaking yet from the Bristol-based clay-mation specialists but while often enjoyable it's not all plain sailing.
The madcap story of a pirate captain, who…

A gallery of clips from our favourite frog and his friends

The Muppets have a string of movies to their names already, including The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Great Muppet Caper. Never ones to shirk away from serious film, darling, they’ve also had cameos in…

Pixar’s highland fling has a lot of heart

After dropping the ball with Cars 2 last summer – the only one of their 12 feature-length releases so far to have been deemed a bit lacklustre – the award-winning animation house will be looking to score big again with Brave.
Set in the misty and…

Programme of kids' activities at the film festival aim to strengthen Scottish-African links

With many Scottish schools forging links with Africa, more and more children are learning to appreciate the highs and lows of life on another continent. To that same end, this year’s Africa in Motion (AiM) film festival is offering families a…

The next step in our Halloween runthrough

G is for Ghost Vigil
Ghost hunting is a serious business – Derek Acorah has proved that. If you fancy busting some ghosts, then this all night Ghost Vigil aboard the Tall Ship in Glasgow is a good place to hone your skills. Conducted by experienced…

Inspired take on the Dahl classic

Wes Anderson’s animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s much loved book is no straightforward children’s film. Wee ones might enjoy it to a degree, but they won’t get much of the typically arch humour and wanton eccentricities the filmmaker once again…